Samsung shipped a record 120 million phones last quarter, beating Nokia, Apple, and LG combined, Strategy Analytics said Tuesday.

The quarter showed a 7 percent jump in overall global shipments from a year ago and gave Samsung a 29 percent slice of the mobile phone market. Strategy Analytics attributed the gain to strong demand for Samsung's Note 3 phablet and mass market devices, such as the Galaxy Y.

Apple's mobile phone shipments rose by 26 percent from the prior year's quarter, faster than that of the overall industry. Further gains in market share are expected this quarter due to heavy demand for the iPhone 5S.

With a market share of 3.5 percent and global shipments of 14.6 million, Huawei became the fifth-largest mobile phone vendor in the world. Total worldwide mobile phone shipments grew by 7 percent to hit 418 million units.

But how do shipments to retailers translate into actual sales to consumers?

Some Chinese vendors, such as Lenovo, may be sitting on some inventory, Mawston told CNET. Apple also may have a slight inventory buildup of iPhone 5Cs around the world. But he said he doesn't see any major disparities between shipments and sales right now.

"Of course, in a 2-billion-unit market, someone somewhere will always be under-shipping or over-shipping at any one time," Mawston added, "but overall the picture for mobile phones looks reasonably buoyant in most parts of the world.

Strategy Analytics

Correction at 8 a.m. PT: The increase in overall global shipments was corrected.